Works that drastically blur the fantasy/sci-fi line

[AllWalker]

Now, I'm not just talking about fantasy books or movies set in the modern age, or scifi stories with a hint of telepathy and mysticism, I mean works which go all out on both the science fiction and the fantasy stuff.

So I suppose I have two reasons for this thread. First, is this crossover a good example of genre splicing, or does magic existing alongside spaceships, for example, just ruin them both? Second, some examples of this sort of thing, please.

I nominate as a classic example the Quantum Gravity series, of which I own the first two. A couple decades in the future and a LHC-type experiment blew a hole in reality, bringing Earth in contact with worlds populated by magic-using creatures like elves, demons and faeries. Humans suck at magic though, so we mostly rely on kickass technology.

There are many things I like about these books but one of features, and I think this is crucial to the subgenre, is that while magic is incredibly useful, there are times when something as simple as a grenade will help you more than all the sorcery in the world. Technology and magic should compliment each other, and if there are examples of devices or situations that use both, so much the better.

[Zuul]

Interesting discussion topic! There's a book that springs immediately to mind. Unfortunately, I can't remember its name or the author. I'll describe it, though, and maybe someone will recognize it:

There are a group of people who travel between planets, interacting with different humanoid races. The divide races into three categories of development. There are the children races, who believe in superstition and magic; adolescent races, who reject superstition and magic and rely on science; and adult races, who accept both magic and science.

The planet they land in is somewhat like ours technologically, being an "adolescent" species. The main characters have use of some magic and psychic abilities and are there to try to protect the adolescent species. There's another species, or perhaps it's the same one as the main characters, trying to use the adolescent species for their own gain.

I enjoyed it and wouldn't mind other books using the same mix of fantasy and science-fiction.

[D. Fenestrator]

I like the mixed genres too. If I am going to escape into a book, then by <insert deity/Higher Power here>, let it be a complete escape! Unfortunately, the only examples I can think of right now are some of the old Andre Norton books You know, there's space travel, but there's also a strong mystic element as well. Not just higher technology being as incomprehensible as magic, but definite coexistence. I am not coming up with any titles, though.

I want to see what other folks recommend - this could be fun.

[Zenster]

One of the Old Masters of mixed sci-fi & fantasy was Clark Ashton Smith. His "City of the Singing Flame", "Xiccarph" and other lost world novels blended both styles along with a healthy dose of the macabre. The horror and fantasy giant, H.P. Lovecraft, was so taken by Smith's work that in one of his stories he named a high priest Klar-Kash-Ton. Though leaning more into the fantasy column, William Hope Hodgson's "The House on the Borderland" deserves mention as does his magnum opus "The Night Land". (From the linked article)

H. P. Lovecraft's essay "Supernatural Horror in Literature" describes the novel as "one of the most potent pieces of macabre imagination ever written". Clark Ashton Smith wrote of it that "In all literature, there are few works so sheerly remarkable, so purely creative, as The Night Land. Whatever faults this book may possess, however inordinate its length may seem, it impresses the reader as being the ultimate saga of a perishing cosmos, the last epic of a world beleaguered by eternal night and by the unvisageable spawn of darkness."

Alternately, trending a little more towards science fiction, Edmond Hamilton was one of the early progenitors of the genre. No roll call would be complete without recognizing one of the Living Masters of this fusion style, Ray Bradbury. "The Illustrated Man" will forever remain a linchpin in the category of science fiction and fantasy.

[Zuul]

Excellent post, Zenster. I've never read "The Night Land", but I'm going to see about getting my hands on a copy now.

[Zenster]

Excellent post, Zenster. I've never read "The Night Land", but I'm going to see about getting my hands on a copy now.

Thank you. I suggest that you might wish to start out slow with, "The House on the Borderland". Hodgson's style can be a little ponderous for the uninitiated. Nonetheless, he has a potent ability to convey fear, dread and nameless horror like few other authors. Here is a link to the complete eText of his short story, "The Voice in the Night". I stumbled upon this tale in a an Alfred Hitchcock compendium titled, "Stories they Wouldn't Let Me Do On TV". It will give you a quick*sampling of the author's ability.

Smith's "The City of the Singing Flame" is one of my favorites. Like fantasy master, Lord Dunsany, his crystalline prose can become almost psychedelic in its excursions beyond the limits of reality.

[Zenster]

Let's try that link one more time:

"The Voice in the Night"

[Glazer]

The Adept Series by Peirs Anthony. These books feature a planet that has a boundary between science (Proton) and magic (Phase). Everyone has a counterpart on each side. And the chief mineral export of the science side is diminishing the element that powers magic on the other and killing magical beings. The games on the science side, in which (naked) slaves can become citizens, makes it worth the read.

The Dragon Riders of Pern by Anne Mc Caffery. Very heavy on the fantasy but based on a sci-fi foundation. The planet Pern is inhabited by shipwrecked space travelers and the Dragons are genetically engendered.But the teleporting* fire lizards that they were engendered from are pure fantasy.

The Foreigner Series by C.J. Cherryh. These are solid sci-fi, but the aliens are not technologically advanced but the culture is so rich and detailed that it reads almost like a fantasy. (Exy and other linguistic buffs will really enjoy this series.)

There is also a series by Tad Willams that I cannot remember the name of, which takes place in a virtual world that is rather fantastic. The books are fantastic as well




* Fire fox thinks teleporting should be teleworking or telephoning. Stupid Browser.

[Julie]

The Obernewtyn books by Isabel Carmody (I'm probably misspelling her first name) are pretty undetermined between sf and fantasy. Maybe it's resolved later in the series, but I only made it through book 2.

[Julie]

There is also a series by Tad Willams that I cannot remember the name of, which takes place in a virtual world that is rather fantastic. The books are fantastic as well

Otherland?

[Zuul]

Zenster, duly noted!

I don't suppose anyone recognized the novel I'd described up in my first response to the OP? I think it was YA fiction. I'd love to read it again.

[Glazer]

Otherland?

That's the one thanks. Had it on the tip of my tongue and just couldn't get it out.